SURVIVOR ON ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’: GOOD INTENTIONS, QUESTIONABLE MOTIVES

With their second album, Conflict of Interest, Survivor turns contradictions, compromised loyalties, and questionable decisions into their most confident statement yet. We sit down with Vex Monroe, Jett Valentine, Rafe Blackwood, and Nico Vandal to discuss the difficult business of being human.

There is a particular pleasure in listening to a band that knows exactly how unpleasant people can be.

Survivor has made something of a specialty out of it.

The alternative-rock quartet’s second album, Conflict of Interest, finds them exploring the complicated intersection of desire, loyalty, hypocrisy, and self-preservation. It’s an album filled with sharp guitars, seductive electronic textures, and melodies that sound considerably sweeter than the sentiments behind them.

Frontwoman Vex Monroe arrives for our conversation wearing black, looking entirely unbothered by the prospect of discussing her own contradictions.

Her bandmates know better.

Your second album is called Conflict of Interest. Who’s conflicted?

Vex Monroe: Everybody. That’s sort of the point. People are constantly negotiating between what they believe and what benefits them. We’re all terribly principled until our principles become inconvenient.

Rafe Blackwood: She’s been saying that for years.

Vex: Because I’m right.

Jett Valentine: And because admitting she’s wrong would be inconvenient.

Vex: See? This is why we don’t do group therapy.

Did you feel pressure making a second album?

Jett: Definitely. The first album is essentially an introduction. You spend years figuring out who you are, and then suddenly people expect you to know exactly what comes next.

Nico Vandal: There’s this assumption that the second record has to be bigger, louder, more expensive. We wanted it to be better, which isn’t necessarily the same thing.

Vex: I think we were more concerned about repeating ourselves. It’s very easy to become a tribute act to your own debut.

Was there a conscious decision to change your sound?

Jett: More of an evolution. The guitars are still central, but we gave the electronics more room. Sometimes a cold, mechanical sound communicates something a distorted guitar can’t.

Rafe: There’s more space in the arrangements, too. We stopped feeling like every second needed to be filled.

Vex: Which was difficult for Jett, because he believes silence is an invitation for another guitar part.

Jett: I’ve never said that.

Vex: You don’t have to. We can hear it.

The album deals heavily with hypocrisy. Is that something you find fascinating?

Vex: Endlessly. Particularly the way people construct these elaborate moral arguments to justify doing exactly what they wanted to do in the first place.

Nobody says, “I’m being selfish because it suits me.” They say they’re protecting their peace, establishing boundaries, making difficult choices. Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes it’s just excellent marketing.

Rafe: The album isn’t really interested in judging anyone, though.

Vex: No. We’re all guilty. That’s what makes it interesting.

There’s a lot of dark humor in Survivor’s music. Is that deliberate?

Vex: Completely. I don’t trust people who take their own suffering too seriously.

Nico: That’s going on a T-shirt.

Vex: Please don’t.

Jett: We write about complicated things, but there’s no reason the music has to be miserable. Some of our darkest lyrics have the catchiest choruses.

Vex: That’s my favorite combination. Something you can dance to while reconsidering your entire personality.

You’ve been friends since childhood. Does that make working together easier or harder?

Rafe: Both. There’s no ceremony. Nobody’s particularly impressed by anybody else.

Nico: We’ve seen each other make too many terrible decisions to be intimidated.

Vex: They knew me before I had good hair. It’s an unfortunate power imbalance.

Jett: The advantage is that we can disagree without worrying the band’s going to fall apart. We know the difference between an argument about music and an actual problem.

Vex: Usually.

Speaking of disagreements, who wins when the four of you can’t agree on a song?

Nico: The song does.

Vex: That’s an irritatingly mature answer.

Rafe: We keep working until everyone believes in it. Sometimes that means cutting something one of us loves.

Jett: Sometimes the thing you’re most attached to is what’s holding the song back.

Vex: Which is a pretty good description of most relationships, actually.

The artwork continues Survivor’s striking red-and-black visual identity. How does it connect to the album?

Vex: I love the idea of something beautiful being pulled in opposing directions. Everything looks polished, but there’s tension underneath.

Our S has become a constant across the artwork. The world around it changes, sometimes quite violently, but that central identity remains.

Jett: The visual language is part of the band now. We don’t want every cover to look identical, but they should all feel connected.

Vex: Also, red looks fantastic on black. Sometimes the explanation really is that simple.

Does Conflict of Interest reflect where you are personally, or is it more observational?

Vex: Both. I think the best songs start with something uncomfortable you recognize in yourself, then you exaggerate it until it becomes interesting.

There are moments on this record where I’m clearly not the sympathetic character. I like that.

Why?

Vex: Because being sympathetic all the time sounds exhausting.

Has success changed the dynamic within the band?

Rafe: It’s changed our circumstances. Not really our relationships.

Nico: We have better equipment.

Jett: And more people with opinions about what we should do.

Vex: That’s the strangest part. Once people start paying attention, everybody suddenly has a very detailed vision for your future.

Do you listen?

Vex: Occasionally. I’m not unreasonable.

Nico: She listens.

Jett: Then she does whatever she was going to do anyway.

Vex: Exactly. Very efficient.

What do you hope listeners take away from the album?

Jett: I hope they hear how much we’ve developed as musicians. There’s a lot happening beneath the surface.

Rafe: I’d like people to find something of themselves in it, even if it’s not especially flattering.

Nico: And I’d like them to play it loud.

Vex: I hope it makes people question their own motives. Just briefly. I’m not asking anyone to become a better person.

Finally, is there anything you’ve learned from making Conflict of Interest?

Vex: That people are wonderfully complicated, self-interest is a remarkably powerful motivator, and nobody is quite as honest as they think they are.

And you?

Vex: Oh, I’m completely honest.

She pauses.

Vex: When it suits me.

A Second Statement

If Survivor’s debut introduced a band fascinated by the darker corners of human relationships, Conflict of Interest suggests they’ve become considerably more comfortable exploring them.

The music is more assured, the arrangements more adventurous, and the writing sharper. What hasn’t changed is the chemistry between four childhood friends who seem to understand that disagreement can be just as creatively valuable as harmony.

There’s no grand declaration of maturity here. No attempt to convince listeners that the band has emerged wiser, kinder, or emotionally well-adjusted.

Instead, Survivor has made an album about the contradictions people carry around every day, wrapped them in irresistible hooks, and invited everyone to recognize themselves.

Whether that’s an act of generosity or an accusation is open to interpretation.

Knowing Survivor, it’s probably both.